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Criminalization of Sex Work
Denies Children Access to Rights
by Jeannette Rabito
Five Minutes To Midnight
Feb 1, 2005
Volume 3, Issue 2
 Every child has the
right to refuse to participate in the labour market until he/she
has reached the appropriate minimum age. Thus children have the
right not to engage in any work that would impede their health,
education, or physical, mental, and moral development; however,
many children in developing countries, such as Thailand, are
denied these rights and engage in commercial sex work in order
to deal with the economic consequences of globalization.
In most developing countries, the privilege of economic
inactivity until the age of 18 is absurd. In fact, many children
in Thailand take on underground work when places of employment
refuse them due to their age. Therefore, although there is
little legal work available to children in Thailand, the illegal
industry of commercial sex work, predominantly sex tourism,
engages many children in order to make financial contributions
to their families.
It is important to recognize that prostitution is a form of
work and that children who participate in the sex industry are
performing child labour. Child sex workers are part of the
international division of labour that provides capital for
international businesses and states; however, labour rights are
denied as Thailand’s economy depends heavily on the industry
and thus the government is reluctant to impose reforms. The
alliance between the Thai government and travelers, who are
willing to buy sex for foreign exchange, produces an estimated
four billion dollars a year in hard currency for Thailand.
Banks, airlines, tourist operators, and hotels benefit from the
profits, thus causing the Thai government to ignore the
exploitation of innocent children for the sake of economic
prosperity. As a result, Kamala Kempadoo states in her book,
Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance and Redefinition,
“sexual labour today forms a primary source for profit and
wealth, and it is a constituent part of national economies and
transnational industries within the global capitalist economy”
(p.8).
The International Labour Organization (ILO) recognizes sex
tourism as child labour and calls its abolition an urgent
matter; however, child sex workers are the most powerless beings
in the industry. Society needs to recognize prostitution as work
in order for these women and children to gain access to labour
rights. In Thailand, prostitution has been illegal for over 37
years. Thailand’s Act for the Abatement of Prostitution states
that it is criminal to solicit, congregate, and operate in
places of prostitution, yet, the act of selling sex is not
illegal; however, it is very difficult to sell sex unless
solicitation, congregation, and operation in places of
prostitution occur. The Act also states that employment under
the age of 18 is prohibited, but these laws are rarely enforced.
Criminalization of sex work changes it into a hidden economy
that makes it vulnerable to further marginalization and
exploitation. Because commercial sex work pays well, children
engage in sex work not only to fuel Thailand’s economy, but
also to feed their families, which are stricken with poverty due
to economic exploitation from developed countries. Yet views to
decriminalize sex work are met with great opposition from
moralists and religious groups who argue that sex work is
sinful. Opposition also comes from some feminists who argue that
sex work degrades women, as it reinforces female subordination.
Giving sex workers access to labour rights will not only enable
them to break away from negative connotations of sex work as an
identity, rather than an occupation, but it will also provide
health and safety standards for work places. Currently there has
been an increase in the demand for child sex workers, in part
due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The search for “freshness”
leads people who desire sex travel to believe that a younger
child is less likely to be infected with the disease. However,
the World Health Organization states that children are more
receptive to infection as they are more inclined to lesions in
sexual intercourse. Consequently, the epidemic has increased
Thailand’s wealth, as a high price is paid for virginity in
the sex industry.
As the criminalization of sex work fills a gap created by
globalization, it deprives child sex workers the chance to live
a childhood free from discrimination and lack of access of child
rights.
Sources
Bindman, J. “An international perspective on slavery in the
sex industry.” Global Sex Workers. Eds. Kamala Kempadoo
and Jo Doezema. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Cabezas, A.L. (1998). “Discourses of prostitution: The case
of Cuba.” Global Sex Workers. Eds. Kamala Kempadoo and
Jo Doezema. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Carter, S. and S. Clift. “Tourism, international travel and
sex: Themes and research.” Tourism and Sex: Culture,
commerce and coercion. Eds. Stephen Clift and Simon Carter.
London: Wellington House, 2000.
Ennew, J. The Sexual Exploitation of Children. New
York: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1986.
Flowers, R.B. The Prostitution of Women and Girls.
North Carolina: Mc Farland & Company, Inc., 1998.
Hoose, J., et al S. “Combating tourist sexual exploitation
of children.” Tourism and Sex: Culture, commerce and
coercion. Eds. Stephen Clift & Simon Carter. London:
Wellington House, 2000.
Kempadoo, K. “Introduction: Globalizing sex workers’
rights.” Global Sex Workers. Eds. Kamala Kempadoo and
Jo Doezema. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Montgomery, H. “Children, prostitution, and identity: A
case study from a tourist resort in Thailand.” Global Sex
Workers. Eds. Kamala Kempadoo and Jo Doezema. New York:
Routledge, 1998.
Montgomery, H. Modern Babylon? Prostituting children in
Thailand. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001.
Murray, A. “Debt-Bondage and trafficking: Don’t believe
the hype.” Global Sex Workers. Eds. Kamala Kempadoo and
Jo Doezema. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Simmons, P. “Prostitution out in the open.” Voices of
Thai Women. 1997.
“Thailand - Women and the Law.” Voices of Thai Women.
1997.
Original link: http://i2r.org/fmm/issues/february2005/article1.html
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